Nadir A. Nasidi (BA, MA, PhD) teaches in the Department of History, at Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria. He was the winner of the 2022 ASR Prize for the Best Africa-Based Doctoral Dissertation. Nasidi specialises in both Intellectual and Islamic Art History with reference to Sacred Sufi Paintings in West Africa. Recently, he developed a special interest in environmental history and urbanisation. Currently, Nasidi is a postdoctoral fellow at the Merian Institute for Advanced Studies in Africa (MIASA). He has also published widely in reputable journals.

MIASA Project: Urbanisation in Kano and the Role of Landscape Architects in the Conservation of the Natural Environment, 1964-2020

Kano is one of the fast growing urban centres in Africa with concomitant environmental challenges as a result of uncoordinated human activities in the State. This development made the Kano State government enact different urban development laws and policies. This includes the establishment of urban planning and development agencies in 1989 and 1990. Using primary and secondary sources, this paper examines the impacts of these governmental laws and policies on environmental growth for sustainable development. This is achieved by looking at the roles played by landscape architects in the planning and management of natural and built environments for the sustainability and health of landscapes. This paper finds out that urban growth on both demographic and infrastructural basis temper with town planning and landscaping of Kano due to uncoordinated human activities. The State also experiences the rapid conversion of natural green-lands and important open spaces to either residential or commercial areas.